We are here to learn and grow and our soul purpose is to give and share Love. Through its persistent trials and tribulations, Life continually challenges us to grow. My Mom used to say "the only constant in life is change". This sometimes means having to replace musicians and subsequently adjusting to new band mates. My close pal, co-producer and right hand man Johnny Parker (front right), frequently quips: "Welcome to the way it is." It is a continual reminder to accept change. The ever-evolving lineup may change, but the song remains the same.

I will let this quote from Exclaim! Magazine do the talking for this photo: “The six-piece roots collective pack an authentic punch, an earthy sensibility and an ear for hypnotic dub grooves. They show clear influence from the Wailers, Burning Spear and Lee "Scratch" Perry...Branch and crew nail the technical, spiritual and music elements of an instrumental sound that both entrances and inspires.” Thank you to Niki Davison for this beautiful portrait of Andru Branch & Halfway Tree, posing in front of the Halifax Common in 2017. From left to right are Andrew MacKelvie (saxophone), Andrew Jackson (trombone), Duane Khodra (rhythm guitar), Andru Branch (vocals, keyboards and percussion), Andrew Brown (bass), Johnny Parker (lead guitar and backing vocals) and Teddy Skiffington (drums). 

I love this photo of Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, at home in his back yard in the countryside outside of Spanish Town in 2017, where we were shooting footage for the "My Jamaican Weed" video. Horsemouth is one of Jamaica's principal foundation drummers, whose raw style and impeccable timing enhanced many recordings. A member of Soul Syndicate band alongside Earl "Chinna" Smith, Leroy has played with countless Jamaican artists, including the honourable Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear. Originally backed by the Soul Brothers band featuring Jackie Mittoo, Brian Atkinson and Joe Isaacs at Studio One in the mid-60s, Burning Spear recruited Horsemouth to play on many of his most beloved recordings, including his signature album Marcus Garvey.  

Along the path I was able to reunite these foundation reggae musicians, after more than 50 years. On the left is "Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson", born Francisco Willie, in Cuba in 1930. He would become Bob Marley's closest friend, and go on to tour the world with Bob Marley & The Wailers on percussion. On the right is Brian "Bassie" Atkinson who, alongside keyboard player Jackie Mittoo, co-wrote many of the bass lines that would go on to define the genre. I am proud and honoured to call these reggae pioneers two of my best friends, each of whom had a profound and lasting impact on what we call reggae music today. 

Following the Halifax Jazz Festival gig, where Halfway Tree opened for The Wailers, Aston "Family Man  Barrett invited me to sit in with Bob Marley's world famous band when they returned to perform at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It was such a treat to play with such reggae royalty again. Loving his camo shorts over his camo pants!!

From as far back as I can remember I have been motivated by rhythm. My beloved friend Raffa Dean used to invite me on stage to play my growing collection of percussion instruments by his side at Toronto's famous Bamboo Club in the 90s. Playing out of time was not an option. He became a mentor to me and taught me how to play all the many variations of reggae music. Raffa was the backbone of the reggae scene in Toronto, where he played with more bands than you could count. Two of the main bands he commanded were Livestock and Hit Squad, the main backing bands that supported the many Jamaican artists that came to Toronto to perform. Following his lead, I went on to back such reggae legends as Gregory Isaacs and Glen Washington. 

Over the years I have had the great fortune to work with many of Jamaica's most celebrated singers and players of instruments, at all of the major Jamaican festivals, including Rebel Salute, Reggae Sumfest, Sting and Reggae Sunsplash, back in the day. Many opportunities were born out of my recording sessions at Kingston Muzik, where I met the SANE Band (Sounds Against Negative Expression). My respect to brothers Joseph and Jeffrey Graham, who welcomed me into the fold, to play and tour with the Warrior Love Band, who have since relocated to Toronto. 

For nostalgia's sake, here is a list of some of the Jamaican artists I have had the pleasure to play percussion with over the years: Luciano, Sizzla, Cocoa Tea, Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, Junior Reid, Richie Spice, Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica, Jah 9, Shuga, Etana, Gramps Morgan, George Nooks, Christopher Martin, Nature, Fantan Mojah, Bugle, Exco Levi, Warrior King, Natural Black, Wayne Marshall, Vybz Kartel, Sean Paul, Yellowman, Frankie Paul, Everton Blender, The Mighty Diamonds, The Congos, The Heptones, Israel Vibration, Johnny Osbourne, Max Romeo, Admiral Bailey, Edi Fitzroy, Johnny Clarke, Leroy Gibbons, Thriller U, Andrew Tosh, Brinsley Forde and of course, The Wailers (above).

Andru Branch & Halfway Tree performed as a ten-piece band at the Halifax Jazz Festival in 2013. We opened for The Wailers on a hot July night with "Somebody That I Used To Know". In the front row, on the left are Mary-Grace and Selah Koile, whose sisterly vocals have uplifted many of my recordings over the years. Along the back row from left to right are my close friend Shane Delorey (repeater drum), my co-producer and right hand man Johnny Parker (lead guitar) and Inti Tzirari Tlatoani Gonzalez Sierra (funde drum). To my left are long-time drummer Jerome Thomas, outstanding reggae bass player Alec Frith, who has consistently supported the band over the years, my dear friend Duane Khodra (rhythm guitar) and Shauna DeGruchy (trombone). Thanks to Mike Phang for the wonderful photo.

Expensive. Repetitive. Creative. Rewarding. These are some of the adjectives that come to mind with respect to studio time. I spent countless hours in this chair mixing two albums and several singles alongside my friend Christopher Mitchell. Chris took over Halifax's Solar Audio, located on the third floor above present day Long & McQuade, and renamed it Common Ground Studio in 2005. Indeed this is where our lives intersected, with a mutual love of "World music", mixed with a healthy dose of bottom end. Chris is a self-proclaimed "audiophile", a bass player with a profound knowledge of acoustics and electronics and a finely tuned ear. It was such a pleasure to watch him work, almost effortlessly coaxing frequencies in and out, shaping the sound. I was glad to have earned a diploma in sound engineering at Recording Arts Canada, back when it was located in Stoney Creek, Ontario. It meant that I could understand the language of creating a "colour palette" with sound. My Mom was convinced that I was attending sound engineering school to become a studio engineer but really I was there to learn how to make a better record! It's a good thing I wasn't relying on this diploma for employment, since most sound engineering gigs have dried up now that everyone is recording on their home computers. The things I miss most are the SODA double 15" speakers. (Oh, the analogue dubs!) Common Ground had the same speakers I learned to mix on at Kingston Muzik Studio in the late 90s! We would monitor the mix through the NS10s and then when we thought we had it just right we would switch up to the giant, thundering 15" speakers built into the wall. A few tweaks here and there, particularly in the bass and drums, would take us from the living room to the dance club, or in this case, dance hall. Getting the bottom end just right in reggae is important because, well...

Harry J Studio is famous throughout Jamaica for having housed some of the most influential reggae musicians of all time. Before Bob Marley constructed a professional recording studio in his home on Hope Road in Kingston, this was the principal studio at which he and The Wailers recorded some of their most significant work. Gold records adorned the walls inside the studio as a testament to some of this great music. Painted on the wall behind this gathering of wonderful musicians are some of the monumental artists who have recorded here, including Big Youth, Dennis Brown, John Holt, Jacob Miller, Winston Rodney aka Burning Spear and Bunny Wailer. Assembled here, from left to right, is a powerhouse group of some of my closest friends, including three foundation elders who rallied together to record my single "Rocksteady" in 2010. Studio engineer Sean Tenn was with me from the start, trained by Bobby Simpson at Kingston Muzik Studio. Chris "DJ Friendlyness" Hatton, who played bass with the original Halfway Tree line-up for the first two years, was a major influence on both my musical and spiritual development as a teenager and beyond. Alvin "Seeco" Patterson was Bob Marley's closest friend and my percussion hero, who became a great friend and mentor to me. The virtuosic guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith has played with virtually every significant reggae artist on the planet. And on my far side is rocksteady pioneer, Studio One drummer, Soul Vendor Joe Isaacs. Missing from this photo is trombonist Everald Gayle, who was there but somehow missed out on this beautiful photo. Have a listen to the product of this session here: "Rocksteady"

When The Skatalites departed Jamaica's legendary Studio One recording studio in the mid sixties, Clement "Coxone" Dodd employed Alpha Boys' School alumni Bobby Ellis to recruit replacement musicians. Pictured here are drummer Joe Isaacs, who was 16 when he got the job, and bass player Brian Atkinson, who auditioned in 1965, at the age of 19. Brian had only ever played on the "box guitar" that his brother built for him, but since the audition was on bass, he figured he would only have to play the top four strings! The teenaged Jamaican keyboard prodigy Jackie Mittoo would go on to lead the band, but for now he would invite Brian to share his piano bench, showing him how to play this bass line and that. Between the two of them they would shape the sound of reggae music to come. This was at a time when all of Jamaica was dancing to ska music. Joe will tell you that he invented rocksteady, because he couldn't keep up with the tempo set by his predecessor, Lloyd Knibbs. And thus, a slowed down version of ska appeared on the scene that would be dubbed "rocksteady". 

This photo, taken in Kingston's Kencot district below Half Way Tree, captures Brian at a time of transition. I had inspired Brian to come out of musical retirement to form the Halifax incarnation of my band by the same name. Unbeknownst to the public, Brian had been driving a Metro Transit bus in Halifax for over 16 years, keeping his beard and hair neatly trimmed. But once he was back in the saddle, he had visions of reuniting the old Studio One band, The Soul Brothers aka Soul Vendors aka Brentford All-Stars. So he showed up at my door one day with a sheepish grin, announcing that he had retired from his bus driver job. He had been in touch with Joe and they had decided to make a go of it. Consequently, he invited me to fly to Miami along with our horn section at the time, Matt Myer and Eric Landry, where we would rehearse a set of Studio One material and line up a "tour". The four of us left for Miami in Brian's minivan on December 3rd, 2004. It was minus 30 degrees when we left Halifax and plus 30 degrees when we arrived two days later. Following two weeks of rehearsal, our five-piece version of The Soul Vendors band flew to Kingston, where we were met by a stretch limo and whisked away to the Pegasus Hotel, where we would play an intimate, lounge-style "homecoming" gig. The event drew some modest media attention but more importantly, a lanky, lone figure whose profile appeared at the lounge entrance. The lead singer (cum incumbent Studio One bass player) of the World famous Heptones had come to see if it was true; if the old Studio One band that had backed his singing trio so many years ago had reappeared in Jamaica after all these years. In a delightful reunion, Leroy Sibbles sang hit after hit with our newly formed reincarnation band. 

Sibbles made regular appearances at the Kencot Motel, where we were being put up by the local Don, Eva. The New Year's Eve gig at Eva's strip club was cancelled and it soon became clear that there were no gigs booked for the band. Eric and Matt swiftly departed for the airport in a cab. They had both quit their respective day jobs in Halifax to be here, but no gigs meant no income, and worse, they had lost faith in the "management". I stayed on, in hopes that Brian and Joe could keep it together, and effectively create something from nothing. After some time, with no movement, I too left to reform the Halfway Tree band back in Halifax, recruiting the talents of Alec Frith to fill Brian's massive shoes on bass.

Bo-Peep joined Joe and Brian for a spell on guitar, at the compound in Kencot where they rehearsed, but they only ended up playing a gig or two. Eventually Brian returned to Canada, where he and I made a full-time job of playing music together every day. On one of many subsequent trips to Jamaica several years later, DJ Friendlyness and I picked up Joe in Negril and drove to Harry J Studio in Kingston, where we recorded my original track, aptly entitled "Rocksteady".

As musicians' lives change, so too does a band's line-up. Martha Kelly stepped in to replace Eric Landry, who began playing full time with Halifax's hardest working band, The Mellotones. Martha earned a degree in classical performance and maintains my favourite reggae tone ever! Heartical soloist Nick Fisher lifted up the sound with his soulful saxophone, plus melodica, which tripped out the band's regular dub sections. And though they are not blood related, brothers Marley and Johnny Parker filled out the guitar section. Pictured here is Andru Branch & Halfway Tree, waiting for the bus that will escort us to the stage to perform at the Montreal International Reggae Festival in 2007. From left to right are Johnny Parker (lead guitar and backing vocals), Andru Branch (vocals, keyboards and percussion), Martha Kelly (trombone and backing vocals), Jerome Thomas (drums), Nick Fisher (saxophone, melodica and percussion), Marley Parker (rhythm guitar) and the great Brian "Bassie" Atkinson (bass). 

Although I was able to spend several weeks with her while she underwent diagnostic tests in Halifax, my beloved mother Barbara succumbed to cancer on May 6, 2000. I had given up my job and my apartment in Toronto to be by her side through chemotherapy, and subsequently I left my beloved band behind. After attending her funeral in my home town of Sackville, New Brunswick, in the very chapel in which my parents were wed, I moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was my closest person and I grieved her loss heavily. I began forging a new life, one without my Mom, and without my band. These were sad times for me, but a chance meeting in 2002 led me to the legendary Jamaican bass player, Brian Atkinson. I befriended radio publicist Lynn Horne over a glass of red wine one night at The Velvet Olive in Halifax. After explaining my story, she wondered if I had knowledge of "Bob Marley's original bass player", who lived outside of Halifax. Several of my older Jamaican colleagues back in Toronto had suggested that I look out for this Studio One pioneer when I relocated. Lynn put in a phone call to Brian and lo and behold he showed up at my door one afternoon soon after. We became fast friends and after a little convincing, he picked up his bass again after 16 years. One of my classmates from sound engineering school back in Ontario, Jordan Urquhart, was already living in Halifax, and he seemed game to make some music together. Jordan was in touch with our fellow classmate, guitarist Tyson Spinney, who lived in the Annapolis Valley, about an hour outside of Halifax. Already an enthusiast of my first album, he too seemed game to play along. And so, with a little sensimillia, the Halifax incarnation of Halfway Tree was born. We recruited British-Antiguan drummer Jerome Thomas, who grew up in England during the reggae explosion in the 70s, so he was well versed in the style. We added the crucial horn section of Matt and Eric and backing vocalist, Selah. Pictured here, from left to right, is Andru Branch & Halfway Tree after an early gig at Planet Pool in Halifax: Jordan Urquhart (rhythm guitar), Jerome Thomas (drums), Andru Branch (vocals, keyboards and percussion), Brian "Bassie" Atkinson (bass), Selah Koile (backing vocals), Tyson Spinney (lead guitar), Matt Myer (trumpet) and Eric Landry (trombone).